Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 2019)
T he C olumbia P ress July 26, 2019 Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer III It takes a village to build a city July 13 marked the grand opening of C & S Builders Supply in the former Warren- ton Builders Supply building. While there are new owners — Ken and Matthew Culp, they’ve always been a part of the original Builders Supply, having had a business rela- tionship with the previous owners Marilyn and Dick Walter. The opening is an exciting moment for Warrenton -- the restoration of our locally owned builders supply. At the grand opening, I was privileged to cut the ribbon alongside the prior owner, Marilyn Walter. As we finished this time-hon- ored tradition and walked the store’s aisles, it was like walking through memory lane. At the end of the walk, Marilyn handed me an enve- lope, which she’d kept. It was my first business commis- sion statement to Warrenton Builder’s Supply! When I was 12 years old, Derrick Danzl and I started a company called DB Spear Company. We cut down alder trees around our neighbor- hood and ruined our parents paring knives to create what we thought were the coolest spears ever. We didn’t know much about what we were doing business- wise and our parents were growing tired of us using all their sandpaper and paring knives — so we looked for business partners. We ap- proached our neighborhood hardware store — then War- renton Builders Supply — and made an arrangement. In exchange for sponsoring us with sandpaper, we would give them a 30 percent com- mission for every spear we sold. True to our word, (and lucky to actually make a sale) we sold one of our spears and issued -- with immeasurable pride -- our first commission of $1.20 to Warrenton Build- ers Supply. I mention this story not only to commemorate the re-establishment of a lo- cal staple, but also to note a piece of what makes War- renton great. The people of our community and our local businesses drive home the truth of the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.” Trusting a kid to be respon- sible and honest to pay out a commission when owed — this sounds small to adults, but to a kid, it was a big deal. I felt the nervousness of developing a proposal and pitching it to a business, I learned the value of follow- ing through with my commit- ments, and I realized the joy that a successful sale brings and the immense pride in handing over my first com- mission payment. This was all possible be- cause adults gave me the op- portunity to do something beyond play in the yard or watch TV. While Warrenton will in- evitably grow in population, we can remain true to our small-town roots. I want to commend the Culps for in- cluding Marilyn Walter in the ribbon cutting. As we build our future, it’s important to remember those who helped us get to the present. My charge to all of us, as we work to make Warrenton a more perfect place, is to think about opportunities we can offer youth to learn responsi- bility and progressively build that pride of self that comes with recovering from failure or success earned. 3 Life Flight grows its network in Washington Life Flight Network, the largest nonprofit air medical transport service in the Unit- ed States, will open a new base in Island County, Wash. Life Flight, which has its headquarters in Aurora, also is expanding its base at Asto- ria-Warrenton Regional Air- port. The new base in Washing- ton state comes through a partnership with Whidbey- Health Medical Center. It’s expected to be operational later this summer. The 24/7 air medical helicopter, pi- lot and medical crew will be based at WhidbeyHealth Medical Center, but will serve Coupeville, other near- by communities and the San Juan Islands. “We’re proud to partner with the exceptional provid- ers at WhidbeyHealth and to work alongside local emer- gency responders in serving the health care needs of Is- land County residents,” said Michael Griffiths, Life Flight’s chief executive. “At the core Public safety calls Continued from Page 2 July 19, 33400 block Sunset Beach Lane. • Female who’s not feeling well, 11:02 a.m. July 19, 1700 block Southeast Ensign Lane. • Male lift assist, 12:07 p.m. July 19, 100 block Tyee Street. • Female with difficulty breath- ing, 2:34 p.m. July 19, 500 block West Harbor Street. • Male lift assist, 2:58 p.m. July 19, 100 block Tyee Street. • Male with possible stroke, 10:04 a.m. July 20, 1100 block Northwest Warrenton Drive. • Female with broken arm, 10:23 a.m. July 20, 2200 block South- east Dolphin Avenue. • Suicidal female, 11:31 a.m. July 20, Highway 101 at Turlay Lane. • Male lift assist, 12:41 p.m. July 20, 1400 block Southeast 12th Place. of our expansion in Washing- ton is our mission to provide ICU-level trans- portation in a safe, compassionate, ef- ficient and expedi- tious manner.” It provides a sec- ond Northwest Washington loca- tion; the other is in Port Angeles. Puget Sound is expected to gain n 1.9 million people by 2050, for a total popula- tion of nearly 6 million. City renews dispatch service contracts Warrenton will continue paying the city of Astoria to handle its police and fire dispatch services. The cost for handling Warrenton’s police calls is $243,320 for the 2019-20 fiscal year, an increase of $33,464 or about 16 percent higher than last year. The contract for fire ser- vices is $30,673, an increase of $786, or 3.6 percent over last year. There have been discus- sions between some public officials about consolidat- ing emergency dispatch ser- vices. Seaside Police Department operates a communications center that serves Seaside, Cannon Beach and the Clat- sop County Sheriff’s Office as well as four south county fire agencies. Astoria Dispatch also serves the sheriff’s office and all other police and fire agen- cies in the county.
